Governments have turned to selling or leasing high-profile infrastructure assets like ports, roads, airports and pipelines as a way of raising funds. The assets appeal to investors like pension funds due to their stable, long-term returns.

Access Capital Advisers, now jointly owned by chief executive Graham Matthews and head of Australasia investments Tom Snow following a management buyout, manages infrastructure investments worth 2.2 billion Australian dollars (US$2.3 billion) on behalf of pension funds. It is the world’s 15th largest infrastructure manager, according to data from consultancy Towers Watson.

Access Capital Advisers’s Tom Snow and Graham Matthews

Jason Davis/Access Capital Advisers

Australia’s Macquarie Group and Industry Funds Management are the sector’s biggest, with mandates worth US$59.1 billion and US$10.2 billion, respectively. They are followed by U.S.-based Alinda Capital Partners and Deutsche Bank’s RREEF Alternatives unit.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. held fifth place with US$6.1 billion of infrastructure investment mandates from pension funds. This means Access Capital Advisers likely needs to secure deals totaling more than US$4 billion in the next five years if it has a chance of reaching its goal.

Access Capital Advisers deployed more than A$600 million in 2012. Mr. Matthews told MoneyBeat last month he expects that figure to be higher this year, given the opportunities available.

“We’ll focus on deals where we can either get exclusivity or obtain a serious inside running by being existing owners of an asset,” Mr. Snow said. Partnering existing lenders also makes sense, he said.

“In a market where some investors are paying prices above those before the global financial crisis, being very selective in choosing which assets to pursue has never been more important,” Mr. Snow said.

“Real estate will not be a massive growth area for us, and private equity and hedge funds are not part of our alternative assets unlike other managers,” Mr. Snow said.

The firm is bolstering its ranks. John O’Brien, a former head of Van Eyk research, joined earlier this month as a senior consultant in the firm’s portfolio construction and risk group. Access Capital Advisers is also looking to add infrastructure specialists in Sydney and London.

The firm’s only deal so far this year was an investment in medium-term notes issued by a subsidiary of Arqiva Broadcast Holdings Ltd., a U.K.-based communications infrastructure firm that has clients like the BBC.